If you’re on the run from the authorities after being convicted of defrauding six insurance agencies as well as the Feds, and you feel that urge to taunt your pursuers via Twitter, then it would be a good idea to disable your smartphone’s GPS first, because (as most of us know) Twitter geotags tweets by default. It isn’t hard for Jonny Lawto catch up to you once you tell them exactly where you are – whether you did so on purpose or not.
That’s what happened last week to fraudster Wanda Podgurski of Manhattan Beach, California. Podgurski “fell” in her home in 2006 and then claimed disability from several different insurance companies whom she had policies with. This, naturally, raised a flag. Podgurski was convicted on 29 counts of fraud and was facing additional charges.
Podgurski did not show up to court, though. Instead, she set up a Twitter account – which followed only prosecutor Bonnie Dumanis – and tweeted “Catch me if you can” on June 6th. Bizarrely Podgurski also tweeted links to reports of her fugitive status and implored Dumanis to “Help find me before I con anyone else...”
The Twitter account is (as of this posting) is still live and something to behold. Podgurski herself was arrested after LAPD’s CATCH (Computer and Technology Crime High-Tech Response Team) extracted embedded geotag information in Podgurski’s tweets to garner the geographic information of where exactly she had been tweeting. Once the location in Mexico was determined it was handed over to the US Marshall’s service, which was quick to take her into custody.
Some criminals seem like they want to get caught, and it’s possible that Podgurski may be one of those. This writer cannot say, as he is not a qualified psychologist. That said, some people are just really, really stupid and really don’t get technology. This fraudster – at least in this journalist’s opinion – falls well within that category. Remember, reader: Felonies and Twitter never, ever mix.
